


breathe

by sphuxis



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Light Angst, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 12:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16305530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sphuxis/pseuds/sphuxis
Summary: “Sorry for intruding, I’m not a prison escapee, I’m hiding from those Banana Fish loving fuckers,”“The people you’re running away from like to do the do with bananas and fishes?!”AU where Eiji has no idea what the fuck is going on and just wants to be with Ash (but things happen in the process)





	breathe

Eiji was awoken abruptly by a desperate and strident yell outside his (typically) peaceful residence.

 

“Help me! Please, if you’re awake, please let me in!” a raucous voice screamed, banging at the door. “I just need to stay for a moment, please!” 

 

Annoyed yet curious, Eiji trudged over to his door, clad in his pajamas. The door handle continued to rattle violently as he drew closer. Biting the inside of his cheek, he gripped his door handle and unlocked his door, hoping a 50-year-old rapist wasn’t at his door at 3 AM. To his surprise, a young blonde man as pretty as a picture was situated outside his door, panting heavily with wine coloured stains all over his shirt. As Eiji flinched at what he assumed to be blood, the boy barged in, knocking Eiji over in the process, then proceeding to slam the door in an exaggerated fashion. Heaving a sigh of relief, he slid down the door.

 

“Thanks for pushing me over…” Eiji grumbled, brushing the dirt off himself. “So what on earth are you doing at 3 AM in the morning…with what appears to be blood on your shirt?”

 

The teen’s fingers grazed over his numerous deep cuts as he spat, “Sorry for intruding, I’m not a prison escapee, I’m hiding from those Banana Fish loving fuckers,”

 

“The people you’re running away from like to do the do with bananas and fishes?!” Eiji cried, holding a hand up to contain his horror.

 

“No, no! I didn’t mean to say that…Basically, Banana Fish is a really messed up drug that screws with your brain and makes you go crazy,”the green-eyed youngster explained. “Long story short, the people with Banana Fish gave me these cuts and chased me. I lost them, but I need to hide until the morning to be sure they don’t murder me.”

 

“Oh…I don’t get it, but…” Eiji stuttered. “But why call it Banana Fish? That’s like calling a drug…flying potato!”

 

An awkward silence filled the air with Eiji’s ‘flying potato’. Eiji scratched the back of his neck and looked away, embarrassed, only to hear a snort coming from the fair-haired adolescent. 

 

“F-fly-flying potato! What a life you must live, to make drugs like _Flying Potato_ for a living!” the intruder scoffed. Eiji pouted and folded his arms. His glare lost its intensity at the site of the juvenile giggling. 

 

“Shut the hell up!” he sulked, petulant and blushing. The trespasser regained his composure, an amused and teasing expression present on his face. “Who are you anyways, you prowler?”

 

“Ash Lynx. One of the mafia’s leaders or executives.” Ash smirked, taking a seat on the tacky couch. “I’m 17 if you’re wondering, _onii-san._ ”

 

“It’s not nice to poke fun at your host, is it, _Ash-chan?_ ” He fired back, irritated. Despite the tiredness enveloping both Eiji and Ash, they both broke out laughing at their ridiculousness. 

 

“You’re the stupidest person I’ve met in a while,” Ash laughed, wiping a tear away from his eyes. “but it’s nice to speak to and meet someone…normal, once in a while,” he stated, looking away. During this whole exchange, the words ‘mafia executive’ seemed to fly by Eiji. A poor and pure 17-year-old thrust into the world of crime and punishment. Thinking about it, it seemed like an utter nightmare to Eiji. A grunt of pain broke Eiji away from his thoughts. He forgot that the 17-year-old was injured.

 

“I have a first aid kit in my room, and if you don’t mind, I can stitch you up pretty well!” Eiji remarked, gesturing towards his room’s door. Ash eyed the tawdry decor and rather flimsy door and sighed.

“As long as you don’t end up giving me tetanus, I’m fine.” Ash exhaled, letting the overly enthusiastic Japanese boy drag him into his room. Ash wasn’t surprised to see that Eiji’s first aid box was overly cute, with bunny and plant stickers. Even his bandages had frogs on them. “Do you do this with every murderer who comes to your door?” Ash queried. Eiji shook his head.

 

“Only the stupid and annoying ones who wake me up at 3,” he denigrated, slapping Ash on the back to imply he was done.

 

Ash sighed for the umpteenth time that night. “Despite your prepubescent screeching, you’re still too nice for your own good. Promise me that the next time someone comes to your door, you won’t dare let them in, okay?”

 

“Pinky promise?”

 

“Are you fucking kidding me-”

 

**-**

 

“Ash, this is the 28th time you’ve come to my house this month. This time, you’re not even injured!” Eiji whined. “Go to your base and leave me alone!” He continued, preparing to slam the door in Ash’s face.

 

“Slam the door and I’ll paint your walls fluorescent green.” Ash threatened. “It’ll be more appealing than your distasteful wallpaper,”

 

“Ugh, whatever you say,” he said, giving up as Ash trotted in.

 

“Besides, do I _need_ an excuse to meet with my dearest _onii-chan_?” 

 

“If you keep speaking, I’ll cook natto and only natto for the next year!” Eiji glowered. Ash raised his hands in defeat and backed away, making himself comfortable and lying down on his ‘older brother’s’ sofa. “So what hidden motive do you have for coming here today?”

 

Ash shrugged. “I don’t know, I had some spare time, and I felt like coming here.”

 

“Without any consideration for how busy _I’ll_ be? You know I’m training up for the next pole-jumping competition and you’re _still_ distracting me from training?” He scowled.

 

“By training, you mean watching Japanese dramas and crying for 3 hours straight?” Ash simpered, looking pleased.

 

“That was a one-time thing! Stop teasing me for that!” he retorted, rushing over to the sofa to give Ash a whack on the shoulder. Ash laughed as Eiji continued hitting, weak. In retaliation, Ash grabbed Eiji’s arm and dragged him on top of him. Caught off guard, Eiji tumbled ungracefully, letting out a high pitched squeal as he fell on top of Ash. “You’re so annoying!”

 

“You’re so heavy,” Ash replied. “let me get rid of some of your fat. That’ll help you in your pole-jumping competitions, won’t it?” he grinned menacingly as Eiji’s face fell, realizing his fate. Ash’s fingers brutally attacked his sides, tickling him like there was no tomorrow. Reaching Eiji’s most ticklish spot, Eiji couldn’t help but burst out in obnoxious laughter. He squirmed, laughing as he pleaded with Ash to stop. After the tickling ceased, Eiji relaxed and simply lay on top of Ash, glad to not be screeching due to tickles. Leaning closer towards his chest, he heard Ash’s heartbeat race. The pattern was nothing out of the ordinary, just simple and quick, but Eiji was glad that the sarcastic teen was still well, alive and breathing. He wrapped his arms loosely around the other’s shoulders, sighing. 

 

“I wish you could just leave the mafia and stay with me, you shouldn’t have to deal with so much gore at your age.” Eiji professed. Ash wrapped his arms around Eiji.

 

“It’s too late now, isn’t it?”

 

**-**

 

It was odd. It was 9 PM: not late, but dark. The single knock on the door scared Eiji. Usually, a cacophony of knocking would greet him, yet this time, a gentle, polite, possibly scared knock greeted him. Eiji hurried over to the door. The usually energetic and feisty Aslan was brooding and downcast, shivering in the cold, fatigue engraved on his face. Without uttering a word, Ash ran straight into Eiji’s arms. Eiji caught him, and hearing his weak cries, raised his hand to pat Ash’s head.

 

He had gone from gregarious to hanging by a thread in one night,

 

His quiet sniffles became louder. It was more of hysterical crying rather than sobbing. He buried his head into Eiji’s shoulder and wept, overwrought and doleful. His grip tightened and he pulled the Asian even closer.

 

“I couldn’t save them! I couldn’t…All of them! They’re all…They’re all gone! Gone! All because of me! I should have…I could have saved them! They deserve better, so, so much better! I should have died, not them! Not them…”

 

“I’m…I’m sorry you’re hurting so much. I’m sorry that your gang members had to suffer. They all deserved greatness, they all did.” Eiji commiserated. “Of course you’re devastated, I understand why. I’d be collapsing if I was in your situation. So, tell me.”

 

“Tell me what happened. Tell me everything that’s worrying you. Tell me all of your concerns. Tell me everything that’s led up to this. Help me understand more about what you’re feeling. No matter what you say, that won’t change the fact that you’re my best friend.”

 

Ash shifted uncomfortably, removing his head from Eiji’s neck and rolling it. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, calming himself down before assuming his previous position once more. “I feel like there's no pleasure or joy in life, nothing can make me or my loved ones happy, everything is hopeless. I can’t concentrate or focus. I feel worthless like I’m a failure to everyone. I can’t sleep, and I don’t want to eat. It’s just…so hard. So damn hard. I don’t know how much longer I can stand this. I’ve let down everyone. I shouldn’t be alive-“

 

“Aslan! Stop, please. Stop dwelling on negative events and experiences. If you continue doing so, you’ll be unable to see all the positive qualities you have. Why do so many people follow and aspire to be like you? Because you are strong, charismatic and make everyone happy. You bring others happiness and you give them strength. You are not worthless or a failure! No one would follow a failure! Yet time and time again, you gain more and more men. You’re respected because you’ve never let anyone down.” Eiji countered, emotional in trying to condole the boy.

 

“B-but I let them die! I let my men die! They died meaninglessly-”

 

“If you continue on living, then their deaths won’t be pointless! If anything, live on! For them! Be the strong leader they know you as. Be the one they can trust to avenge them. Scratch that, you are the strong leader they know and love, and you can and will avenge them! No matter how long it takes, as long as you keep them in your heart and make sure they don’t die meaningless deaths, you will never ever be a failure to anyone! We all love you for the man you are. So please, don’t beat yourself up.”

 

“…Thank you.”

“You know that saying, that when you cry, you’re not weak, but you’ve been strong for too long?”

 

“…I do _not_ need your cheesy bullshit quotes right now. Also isn’t that from like Dragon Ball or something? Besides, your whole motivation speech sounded like a page from ‘How to Be a Psychologist for Dummies’ you know?”

 

“Hey, that’s mean! Shut up, encroacher!”

 

**-**

 

Ash didn’t have anything in particular to do. Checking his watch, he saw the time. It was pretty early, only 4 PM. He decided that he would go and  annoy have a chat or meal with Eiji. He enjoyed the boy’s company very much, possibly a little too much. Ash shook his head. Being a gang leader, feelings were something that was foreign and unnecessary to him. Eiji was just…a breath of fresh air. A ray of sunlight on his dark parade. Ash found himself tracing the familiar steps towards the kitsch household, jogging the last block out of excitement. He _had_ to tell Eiji about the new Japanese gang member who brought everyone natto and fried fish (that stunk up the whole room).

 

Ash rapped the creaky old door belonging to Eiji. No response. It was peculiar, considering the fact that the innocent cutie usually would have been bounding towards the door in no time. Ash pounded against the door again. The silence grew more and more ominous. Deciding to not be rude, Ash tapped his foot impatiently outside, waiting for Eiji to come apologizing that he was busy ‘training’. Curiosity got the better of him, and fiddling with the doorknob, he realized that the door was open. This was dangerous. He had told Eiji to always lock his door, especially because of the gangsters that wanted Ash dead. Dread settled in the back of Ash’s mind as he pushed the door wide open, calling out Eiji’s name over and over. He sprinted around the house, feeling despair, and the threat of impending doom looming over him. The living room was empty. So was the kitchen. And the bathroom. Praying and chewing his lip, Ash burst into the bedroom. It was a mess. The bedsheets were strewn everywhere, the blanket was in knots on the floor, the lights were busted with gunshots, the curtains were clawed off, and his bedside table was in shambles. Horrified and disgusted by the atrocious site, Ash took a step back. He looked down, sensing that he had stepped on something. A neatly sealed envelope. He took it in his hands and ripped it open, only to see what was his worst nightmare.

 

It was a picture of Eiji Okumura, strapped to a familiar looking bed, shirtless. His chest was glowing red with angry scratches, his lips were bruised and bleeding, and worst of all, his eyes were filled with a mix of dread, despair, and fear. Tears were leaking from the corner of his eyes, and he looked as if he was crying out for help. A shadow hung over him in the shape of one fat fuck Ash hoped wouldn’t ever touch Eiji.

 

Dino. Fucking Golzine had gotten his hands on his one and only salvation.

 

This was no laughing matter. Ash was going to eviscerate him.

 

**-**

 

Golzine had been smart. He knew Ash would come at full force, brimming with rage and intent to slaughter. He had sold off Eiji before Ash came. Although Golzine was killed in the process, his plan had succeeded. He left Ash in a state of hopelessness and despondency. Ash grew more and more ruthless, wandering the world in search of Eiji. Every step of the journey, blood was spilled. Tears were shed. Cries were heard. Ash didn’t let any of it get to him. None of it could get to him. The disappearance of Eiji was a big blow to Ash. And he now had a new goal. 

 

Finding Eiji Okumura.

 

**-**

“Come one now, Ash! Loosen up a bit. It’s been a long, long week, so let your men rest a little…” Shorter encouraged, slinging an arm around Ash. 

 

“By that, you mean to take everyone to the fucking strip club?” Ash huffed, turning away and folding his arms.

 

“I know strip clubs and prostitutes aren’t your favorite thing ever, but I’ll keep you away from them as best as I can.” Shorter declared. “We’ll drop the guys off and then we’ll go get wasted at the nearest bar. Do you want the usual? Shiraz? From Australia?” 

 

Ash slumped and nodded his head slightly as all his loyal men rejoiced. They eagerly set off to the garage as Ash slapped his hand against his forehead, thinking how stupid his goons were. Bracing himself for enough tits being shoved into his face to last him a lifetime, he sucked the inside of his cheek and got in the car. He hoped that his gang wouldn’t get too drunk this time. Last time this happened, he had to drag Bones up 8 flights of stairs, only to get vomited on. Pulling up to the club, the car slowed down. Overly excited men came leaping out of the car as Ash sighed in disgust and disappointment. They _were_ his men, but they didn’t need to be _this_ horny. Ash knew what the strippers and prostitutes inside had to go through first hand, and it wasn’t pleasant.

 

After what felt like 10 hours, Ash decided that he would go in and rally up the members of his gang. Party’s over. He also didn’t need all the gangs in Las Vegas to come after his ass looking for debt payments. He placed his hands into his pockets and entered the club. The blaring music came at him full force. Each time the drums were hit, he felt his eardrums bleed just that little bit more. Pushing his way through a crowd of drunk and horny customers, Ash finally managed to find basically everyone, huddled in a corner, wasted and ogling the performers.

 

“Show’s over losers, we’re going back now,” Ash stated, using his thumb to jab in the direction of the exit. “Get a move on, let’s go already.”

 

The collective groans of everyone sounded like a dying walrus. Ash cringed, sending them a death glare as he signaled towards the door again, urging them to get the fuck out. The boys shivered and scuffled out. Ash tossed the workers a stack of bills, which they took graciously.

 

“Thanks for entertaining those stupid idiots. I’m sorry that you had to deal with them,” Ash apologized, lowering his head. Facing the other direction, he strode towards the door. As he was exiting, he felt a faint tap against his shoulder. Turning around, a pair of male hands covered his eyes. “Hey, let go! I’m not interested and I’m in a rush to go!” 

 

“Please, just come with me for a moment! ” the voice cried, seemingly innocently. Considering the overwhelming levels of adultery in the club, the voice was odd.

 

“I hope you’re not some 50-year-old rapist…”Ash grumbled, trailing off. The person continued dragging him until they entered a more quiet and secluded area. Ash blinked wildly when the person removed his hands from his eyes.

 

“So what do you have to show me- Oh my god! No way. You’re joking. You have to be joking!”

 

“I’m here, Ash.” Eiji Okumura whispered, clasping Aslan’s hands in his. “I’ve finally found you, after all this time! We can be together again!”

 

Eiji’s little monologue was interrupted by Ash wrapping Eiji in his arms as tightly as possible. For the first time in a long time, Ash acted like a kid. He jumped up and down, Eiji still is his arms as he let the tears stream down. He laughed, and Eiji joined in. He eventually stopped jumping, but he held Eiji just as tightly. Pressing their foreheads together, he said, “Welcome back, Eiji.” Then, he leaned in closer, doing what he had longed to do for over 4 years.

 

His first kiss with Eiji was even better than he had imagined. It was tender, sweet and soft. They moved together slowly, pressing against each other in barely concealed lust and longing. Eiji broke away, out of breath. Ash smirked. Even after all these years, Eiji’s stamina was that of a hamster.

 

“I’m getting you out of here, right now.”

 

“But there's no way my boss would just let me go, and I can’t just-”

 

“Did I fucking stutter?”

 

“…No, you did not.”

 


End file.
